Covering Old Ground

So there I was, standing in the unfinished small garden . . maybe I should start officially calling it the Unfinished Garden . . and I realised I was saying the same old things . . I don't even remember what, was it that level ground should look actually, you know, level, or that ag drains should actually, you know, drain somewhere . . and I realised I was done. 

I said I was done and I went around to the big garden and I lay on the lawn in the shade and listened to the rustling of the leaves and the chirping of the birds, and I remembered why I like being in the garden. 

After a while I went back around and retrieved all the plants that obviously would not get planted in the Unfinished Garden that day because there was too much prep work to do over and I found alternative places for them and I dug and planted and transplanted and mulched, and I remembered why I like working in the garden.

At 9.30pm I marched inside, marveling at how adrenaline can make one unaware of the stiffness and soreness of an old gardener's body. And I've barely looked at the garden since. I just need to put it aside. I need to nag about argue about concentrate on the inside. And if and when I go back to being a gardener I need to love it again, like I did before it became an extension of the stupidity of the inside.

Midwinter

We have just had the warmest July since records began. The average maximum was 13.4℃, two degrees above average. That's 56℉. Only eight nights dropped below freezing, the average is seventeen nights.

Today was cold and windy but the garden can sense spring coming.

Crab Apple

Sedum

Weigela

Daylily

Eucalypt

My Early Autumn Garden

As the first month of autumn draws to a close, here's a quick update. Some of the plants that suffered in summer's heatwave are showing signs of recovering. I bought a few, just a few, plants at the annual plant fair last weekend, I still have mixed feelings about whether it was a good idea to curb my impulse buying so much. It looks like last year's green manure crop has self seeded, though the flat leaved plants might be weeds. The leaves of the trident maple already showed some colour change in late summer and it's becoming quite noticeable now. There are leaf curling spiders all over the garden (the spider photo is larger so it's worth clicking on it for a better look if you are interested). 

Hottest Summer on Record, and Then It Was Like Someone Flipped a Switch

The Bureau of Meteorology says it has been the hottest summer on record in Australia.

In Canberra this summer was the equal 9th warmest on record. The average maximum temperature was 29.1℃, 2℃ above average. (That's 84℉.) There were 36 days over 30℃ (86℉) and 12 days over 35℃ (95℉). January was the hottest month on record, with a record high of 42℃ (107℉) on the 18th. Minimum temperatures were also slightly above average in December and January. Rainfall was below average although January was wetter than usual.

And then I woke up on the first day of autumn and it was cold! The water out of the tap for a couple of mornings was noticeably cooler. But March can still be hot. Today was warm and sunny again and we are expecting temps around 30 later in the week.

The brightest crepe myrtle is looking gorgeous and the others have also produced a few flowers. The daylily and the dianthus I planted last spring have finally decided to do something too.

Feeling Frustrated

Hubby headed out to mow the lawn. As usual I was stuck inside. I really don't spend enough time in the garden any more. I got rid of my old gardening clothes and shoes and I haven't worked out quite how to arrange a new gardening routine that won't result in muddy boots and mulchy clothes constantly spread around our rather petite entrance hall. I wish I had a mudroom, what a great concept they are. A walk-in linen cupboard would be nice too, it was on the list for our dream house and somehow got overlooked. We didn't even manage to include a long cupboard along the corridor, which is something we had in every house we've lived in including the little cheapy we rented while building. Add to that a backlog of problems that Hubby optimistically thought weren't there or would go away by themselves, and so I find myself preoccupied with the house rather than enjoying the physical and mental benefits of the garden. But late in the afternoon the lure of the sunshine got too great and I dashed out to take some photos and do some supervising. 

I love the ferny foliage of the silk trees 

(also known as mimosas in other parts of the world).

Hubby dug out the Pittosporum Golfball I mentioned earlier.

I think we'll plant something different but I'm not sure what.

I made him prune some of the large pittosporums. 

More regular pruning would make them denser.

I pointed out the diosma was starting to crowd the nandina.

He really is the most reluctant pruner.

The crepe myrtles are getting ready to flower. 

I don't know why I've seen others around already in full bloom.

There are shoots coming up where we had planted a green manure crop last winter.

I think it has self-seeded.

Yep, that looks like one of the plants from last year.

I wonder how it will do this year with a much earlier start?

Feeling Too Much Heat

I wandered out in the late afternoon to check the garden and... aha, look at that Solomon's Seal, it's not in the shade. There's the shade, on either side of it! Yep, must fix that.

And the Pittosporum Golfball which was looking bad is looking worse, so I guess I'll have to decide whether to replace it with same or choose something else. All the Golfballs are looking a little dry around the edges but we did have a record hot spell and they usually look lovely.

We had some welcome rain over the weekend and when the sun came out almost everything looked somehow refreshed.

Sad to say though, some parts of Australia got far more rain than needed. Hard to believed places that suffered only a couple of years ago are going through it again.

Feeling the Heat

This month's heat and wind has taken its toll on the garden. Friday was the hottest January day in Canberra on record, and the second hottest overall, 41.6℃ 106.8℉.

I think when it cools down I'll move the variegated Solomons Seal to a more sheltered location, even the short period of direct sun seems too much for it. The lawn is dry and Hubby is talking about paving. The silk trees are flowering and looking reasonably healthy but dropping a lot of dried out fronds. 

The coming week the forecast is for rain. I hope so, especially for the areas of Australia where the battle to put out the bushfires is still going.

This and That

This hebe seems to have been knocked around a bit by the cold.

The photinia's spring habits are almost autumn-like.

This dianella has been disappointing but seems to be doing better.

This flax has settled in much better.

The orange pigface, moved yet again, has a few flowers.

The little eucalypt is flowering.

The pittosporum is getting ready to flower too.

And the Chinese Pistachio.

I love the colour of the new leaves on the berberis.

And we've been to the garden centre!

Winter

Last night's temp was -6℃ apparent temp -8℃ (21℉ apparent 17℉) and today it reached 11℃ apparent temp 7℃ (52℉ apparent 44℉).

Thinking of everyone affected by the heatwave in the US, especially those without power.

Winter Chores

We've all had colds over the past week but Hubby is feeling better so he headed out to pick up those pesky seed pods from my previous post. When I realised he had decided to have a go at some major tree pruning as well I grabbed the camera and a warm jumper and went out quickly to do an update.

With the tree branches bare, it's easier to notice intriguing things like this cocoon.

I wonder what hatched out of it?

The diosma has a surprising number of flowers for an out of peak season flowering.

The first pruning task was a crepe myrtle.

Here's how it looked at the end of April.

Hubby took off the very low branch on the right.

Then he tackled the front branch of the Chinese pistachio. This is something I thought should have been done when the tree was much younger, but it wasn't until an arborist commented on the potential problems of the two branches forking in that way that he saw the need to do something about it. I think this is the largest branch we've ever removed from a tree.

Job done.

Then I went to see how my marigolds are doing and found my path blocked by this.

I couldn't get closer to have a good look at them but they are definitely showing signs of being affected by the sub-zero temperatures now.

Speaking of the weather, these are our recent temperatures.

Night before last

-3℃ apparent temp -6℃

26℉ apparent temp 21℉

Yesterday

14℃ apparent temp 10℃

57℉ apparent temp 50℉

Last night

-1℃ apparent temp -3℃

30℉ apparent temp 26℉

Today

9℃ apparent temp 8℃

48℉ apparent temp 46℉

Garden Bloggers (Not Really) Bloom(ing) Day in Winter

Not a whole lot of blooming but I thought I'd take the opportunity to do a garden update.

Providing the brightest colour in the garden now are the berberis which we planted last year. Catching sight of them through the window makes me wish I had room for more, the colour is just so warm and cheery.

In the background you might have noticed seed pods, many many seed pods. They're from the silk trees (albizia julibrissin, also know as mimosa). Hubby has been up a ladder cutting them off to prevent them sprouting all over the place and hasn't collected them all up yet.

And up in the back corner we have blooms! Much to my surprise the marigolds are still blooming.

I am linking this post here http://www.seepferds-garten.blogspot.de/2012/06/blogger-bluten-im-juni-20012.html

Autumn

Absolutely gorgeous autumn day, sunny and 20℃ 68℉. If I had been better organised it would have been a lovely day to get some gardening done or go out somewhere. I managed to take some pics (and find umpteen more things that need to be done).

One of the resident blackbirds.

A butterfly, not a commonly seen variety.

Leaf-curling spiders.

A work in progress.